Jubilee USA Network Applauds the IMF Executive Directors

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, the Executive Board of the IMF approved the second installment of the nearly $2.7 billion from their windfall gold sale profits to support concessional lending to low-income nations through the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) and extend a 0% interest rate that will make this trust available for future generations beyond 2014. This momentous move is in conjunction with their approval of the first installment of $1.1 billion to do the same, totaling roughly $4 billion to go into the PRGT.

"Jubilee USA Network applauds the IMF's approval of nearly $4 billion to help low-income nations - this translates into real relief for some of the world's poorest people," noted Eric LeCompte, Jubilee USA Network Executive Director. "This has been a global campaign more than two years in the making and our work paid off."

In December 2010, the IMF completed the sale of 403.3 metric tons of gold from its own reserves. The Fund earned a huge and higher-than-expected profit - $3.8 billion in excess cash due to the sky-high market price of gold during the sales.

Starting in 2010, Jubilee USA Network urged the IMF to use the windfall profits to help the most vulnerable instead of going into the IMF general reserves. Jubilee USA Network delivered tens of thousands of petitions and organized 60 global partners to push the Fund towards debt relief. From that point, we have been meeting with IMF Staff and the Executive Directors and in February 2012 the IMF approved the use of the first distribution of $1.1 billion for PRGT. Now, today's approval that was two years in the making, will use all of the windfall profits to benefit millions of the world's poorest people.

Jubilee USA Network is an alliance of more than 75 US organizations, 200 faith communities and 50 Jubilee global partners. Jubilee USA Network has won critical global financial reforms and more than 120 billion dollars in debt relief for the world's poorest countries.